City-based Islamic seminary, Jamia Nizamia, has stirred up a controversy by issuing a decree (fatwa) that consumption of prawn is not permissible for Muslims. The fatwa was issued on January 1 by Mufti Mohammad Azeemuddin, the chief mufti of the 142-year-old Islamic deemed university.
Many Muslim religious scholars have, however, differred with the Jamia’s ruling.
According to the fatwa, prawn is an arthropod (to which insects also belong) and it does not fall under the category of fish. The chief mufti labelled prawn under the category ‘makruh tahrim’ (strictly abominable) and advised Muslims against eating it. In Islamic jurisprudence there are three categories of food — lawful (halal), haram (prohibited) and makruh (abominable).
Foods falling under makruh are sub-divided into makruh (abominable but can be eaten) and makruh tahrim (strictly abominable and thus should be avoided). Jamia Nizamia is a distinguished Islamic educational institution revered in several countries.
Earlier, Al India muslim personal law board has criticised the Darul Uloom Deoband for issuing fatwa asking Muslim women not to marry those working in banks.
“Issuing such kind of weird fatwa is wrong and creates confusion in the community and those who have issued it must review their decision for the sake of the society and the community’’, said AIMPLB executive president Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali here on Friday.
Darul Ifta (Shariat court) of Darul Uloom Deoband citing that the income from banking jobs is considered ‘ haram’ (forbidden) earnings, had issued a fatwa asking Muslim women to not marry into a family whose members work in banks. The logic behind this particular fatwa prohibiting marriage with bank employees is that earnings through interest and any transaction involving interest, particularly investment, is forbidden in Islam.
“A large number of Muslims are working in the banking sector. Issuing a Fatwa asking Muslims not marry people employed in the banking sector is wrong. People who issued this Fatwa must review this because it will lead to further rift and confusion in the Muslim society. There is no need to issue a fatwa on such things,” AIMPLB executive president Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali said here on Friday.
Rs Rs Weird Fatwa’s defying logic never fails to make headlines. Muslims are not necessarily bound to follow them as Fatwa’s are merely a scholarly opinion on a matter of Islamic law and are issued by a recognized religious authority. All Fatwa’s are not bizarre or without logic, like those prohibiting alcohol and narcotics are in the interest of the society’’, said Maulana Firangi Mahli. The seminary, Darul Uloom Deoband, gave the fatwa following a query from a person in which he had stated that he had a few proposals for marriage from families where the father earned money from a banking job in India.
On January 2, Darul Uloom Deoband had issued a fatwa against a 15-year-old girl Aliya Khan from Meerut after she dressed up as Lord Krishna and recited the Bhagwad Gita. Alia Khan, while reacting to the religious decree issued, said that Islam is not so weak that we will be dismissed from it just because we recite the Bhagwad Gita
The state president of the Majlis Ittehadul Musalmeen Shaukat Ali has welcomed the fatwa saying Rs Rs Darul Uloom Deoband is correct in its decision. One should avoid having any social bonds with such a person because everything including his lifestyle would be connected with ‘haram’, and then it would be harmful to the person religiously, socially as well as individually,”.
A fatwa by Deoband this month forbidding the muslim women from wearing “tight” and “fashionable” burqa had also hogged the headlines. The fatwa said wearing tight and revealing dress is against the tenets of Islam and the religion does not permit women to do anything that was unnecessary and might attract the attention of the men.
“Tight and fashionable burqas expose women’s bodies and attract men… the women must avoid them,” the fatwa, which was issued in response to a query, said. The Darul Ifta (Department of Fatwa) of the seminary said in the religious decree that the objective of wearing a burqa was to “hide” the body and avoid attention from men. The clerics of the seminary said women should not even venture out of their homes unnecessarily. “They should cover their bodies in such a way that no portion of it is exposed,” the fatwa said.
The fatwa evoked a mixed reaction from Muslim women. While a section of them agreed with it, others said that there was no need for such a fatwa.
“What the fatwa says is right. Tight and designer burqas should not be worn,” said All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board chairperson Shaista Amber.
Women’s activist Naish Hasan, however, said there was no need for issuing such a fatwa. She said that it was an attempt to divert the attention of the community from important issues it was facing.
Few days back, In yet another fatwa, prominent Islamic seminary in Deoband, Darul Uloom on Wednesday said that wearing designer and body-hugging burqa is ‘haraam’ and not allowed in Islam.
The latest fatwa came two days after Deoband Ulemas criticized 15-year-old Alia Khan from Meerut for reciting Bhagwad Gita slokas at a contest organized by the UP government recently.
The sermon issued on Wednesday was in response to a written query from an unidentified man who had sought clarity on the emerging trend of women donning designer burqas.
A bench of muftis announced the fatwa on the issue by stating, “Veil and burqa are supposed to protect a woman from prying eyes. So, a woman wearing designer burqa or a body-hugging outfit is strictly not allowed in Islam.”
The fatwa did not just stop at that. ‘In fact, women should not step out of house unnecessarily and must be kept hidden otherwise evil eyes stare at them. Even when they go out, they must wear loose robes,” the sermon said.
Reacting on the issue, one of the muftis at Darul Uloom, Maulana Arshad Farooqui said, “There should not be any controversy on this issue because fatwa is actually an advisory whose compliance is a matter of choice for those who believe in Islam.”
